(Original post from 2008. -Ed.)
Jörg Weilhartner visited PASP and UT Classics from October 25th to November 22nd and worked on the Mycenaean material. He holds a research fellowship at the University of Salzburg/Department of Classical and Aegean Archaeology, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).
Jörg reports:
My research at PASP focused on my work concerning a structural analysis of the Linear B logograms and abbreviations. This work benefited greatly from the rich inventory of the library housed at PASP including publications (including offprints from many decades back) which are not easy to access elsewhere and an archive of photos in the scale 1:1 of all Linear B tablets. Additional support was provided by the kind courtesy of Tom Palaima and his readiness to furnish me with a lot of files that are of invaluable help for further research. Next to my proper research I took the unique advantage of reading the correspondence of Alice E. Kober and Emmett L. Bennett that gives insight into the crucial state immediately before the decipherment on a very personal and touching level.
In addition, I participated in the teaching of the Mycenaean seminar and offered two seminar sessions on Mycenaean religion and on the logograms and abbreviations of the Linear B script. This afforded an opportunity to share and discuss ideas on Mycenaean topics with Tom and his graduate students. I also offered a general talk to the classics department and related faculty on Arthur Evans’ contribution to the understanding of Linear B and I attended Prof. Thür’s talk about Law in the New Hypereides Fragment.
During my stay I met at length with Tom Palaima and Cynthia Shelmerdine to discuss my work and many other Mycenaean topics for which I am very grateful. I also met with Mary Jane Cuyler to discuss possible patterns within the abbreviations.
The general life , and weather, in Austin was wonderful. Everyone was welcoming, and I have good memories of American Halloween, the Austin parks and botanical gardens, and dinners with faculty and students.
I am much obliged to Tom Palaima and his students and the staff of the Classics Department at UT Austin for providing a pleasant stay and an unforgettable experience.